The 20 Biggest Donors of the 2012 Election (So Far)pg 2

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The casino mogul betting $5 million on Newt Gingrich, Wall Streeters investing in Mitt Romney, Obama's Hollywood pal, and the other 1 percenters trying to sway the race.

—By Gavin Aronsen and Dave Gilson

| Tue Jan. 10, 2012 4:00 AM PST

11. J.W. AND DONNA MARRIOTT JR.(

BETHESDA, MARYLAND)

For the past four decades, J.W. "Bill" Marriott Jr. has served as CEO of Marriott International, the hotel franchise and property management company founded by his father. (In December 2011 he announced his intention to step down.) He is reportedly worth $1.3 billion. His brother, Richard, is also in the hotel business and is a major political donor. Bill chairs the President's Export Council, which advises the executive branch on national and global trade. In the 2012 election cycle, he and his wife, Donna, have donated $500,000 to the pro-Romney super-PAC Restore Our Future.
Total giving for 2012 race: $657,687
• Giving to outside-spending groups: $510,000
• Giving to candidates and parties: $147,687

12.JOHN AND JOSEPHINE TEMPLETON(BRYN MAWR, PENNSYLVANIA)

John heads the John Templeton Foundation, a nonprofit focused on answering "the Big Questions of human purpose." (Critics say it seeks to lend scientific legitimacy to matters of faith.) The foundation was started by his late father, Sir John, a mutual fund billionaire. In 2009 it reportedly had $1.7 billion in assets. In the 2012 election cycle, John and his wife, Josephine, have donated $232,000 to the College Republican National Committee, $200,000 to the anti-Obama super-PAC Raising Red, $100,000 to Rove's American Crossroads, $55,000 to the Republican Governors Association, and $5,000 to Rick Santorum. Bonus: Charles Koch named them as part a list of elite donors who have pledged $1 million to his and his brother David's conservative fundraising machine. 
Total giving for 2012 race: $633,000
• Giving to outside-spending groups: $597,000
• Giving to candidates and parties: $36,000

13. LUIS MOORE BACON(NEW YORK CITY)

Worth a reported $1.7 billion, the media-shy founder of Moore Capital Management has a reputation as one of the world's top hedge fund traders. In the 2012 election cycle, Bacon has given $500,000 to the pro-Romney Restore Our Future.
 
Total giving for 2012 race: $580,300
• Giving to outside-spending groups: $500,000
• Giving to candidates and parties: $80,300

14. RICHARD AND NANCY MARRIOT

Richard has split his father's hotel-industry fortune with his brother Bill. Worth a reported $1.4 billion, Richard runs Host Hotels, the world's biggest lodging investment trust. In the 2012 cycle, Richard and his wife, Nancy, have given $500,000 to Restore Our Future. 
 
Total giving for 2012 race: $556,200
• Giving to outside-spending groups: $510,000
• Giving to candidates and parties: $46,200

15. JIM AND ANN DAVIS(NEWTON MASSACHUSETTS)

The Davises serve as chair and vice chair, respectively, of the New Balance shoe company. Reportedly worth $1.8 billion, Jim is one of the founders of Major League Lacrosse and is a major donor to collegiate athletics programs. In the 2012 election cycle, he has given to $500,000 to the pro-Romney Restore Our Future. New Balance has issued a letterexplaining that Davis' donation to Restore Our Future "was a private donation and not a contribution from New Balance" and distanced the company from Romney's stance against gay marriage. 
Total giving for 2012 race: $542,300
• Giving to outside-spending groups: $500,000
• Giving to candidates and parties: $42,300

16. STEPHEN BING(LOS ANGELES)

Bing is a film producer (Shine a Light), script writer (Kangaroo Jack), and the founder of Shangri-La Music. He inherited a $600 million real estate fortune when he turned 18. Described as one of Bill Clinton's "best friends," Bing has donated millions to the Clinton Global Initiative and paid $200,000 to fly the former president to North Korea to bring home two detained American journalists in 2009. Bing was worth an estimated $590 million in 2009; a movie producer told theDaily Beast that he "treats money as if there are no consequences to losing it." A major donor to Democratic causes, in the 2012 election cycle he has given $250,000 and $150,000 to the liberal super-PACs Majority PAC and American Bridge 21st Century, respectively. 
Total giving for 2012 race: $495,800
• Giving to outside-spending groups: $410,000
• Giving to candidates and parties: $85,800

17. GARY AND RENEE MORSE(THE VILLAGES, FLORIDA)

Gary is the developer behind The Villages, a master-planned retirement community in central Florida. Described as a "mystery man" by theOrlando Sentinel, he is a longtime Republican donor. He has said"excessive and inefficient regulation" is the main obstacle to his business. He has thrown his support behind Mitt Romney; in turn,Romney has campaigned at The Villages, a common stop for GOP candidates. Gary and his wife, Renee, have contributed $250,000 to Restore Our Future and $5,000 to the Romney-affiliated PAC Free and Strong America.
Total giving for 2012 race: $425,000
• Giving to outside-spending groups: $265,000
• Giving to candidates and parties: $160,000

18. FOSTER AND LYNNETTE FRIEDSS(JACKSON, WYOMING)

The Friesses founded the investment firm Friess Associates in 1974; in 2001, they sold a majority share for $247 million. At a celebration of his and Lynn's 70th birthdays in Jackson Hole, they astounded guests byhanding out $7.7 million to the nonprofits of their choice. With their son, the couple runs a family foundation focused on "encouraging private-sector solutions." Foster has said, "If you look at the solutions that government comes up with, they're almost always an unmitigated disaster." During the 2012 election cycle, the couple has given to Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, and Tim Pawlenty—and $250,000 to the conservative Movement Fund. Bonus: Charles Koch named them as part a list of elite donors who have pledged $1 million to his and his brother David's conservative fundraising machine. 
Total giving for 2012 race: $403,100
• Giving to outside-spending groups: $270,000
• Giving to candidates and parties: $133,100

 19. HOWARD AND SUSAN GROFF(NORTHRIDGE, CALIFORNIA)

The Groffs own Northwest Excavating, a Southern California construction equipment rental and digging company. The couple maintains a low public profile but has contributed heavily to Republican federal candidates since the mid-2000s. In the 2012 election cycle, they have given $100,000 to Restore Our Future.
Total giving for 2012 race: $392,900
• Giving to outside-spending groups: $110,000
• Giving to candidates and parties: $282,900

20.ROBERT AND DIANA MERCER(LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK)

Robert Mercer is co-CEO of the $15 billion hedge fund company Renaissance Technologies. In 2009, according to the New York Daily News, he accused a builder of overcharging him $2 million for a construction project in his mansion—a "museum-quality" model train display "about half the size of a basketball court." During the 2010 midterms, Mercer was outed as the funder behind $300,000 worth of attack ads targeting Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.). In the 2012 election cycle, he and his wife Diana have given $150,000 to the Republican National Lawyers Association and $100,000 to the free-market super-PAC Club for Growth Action.
Total giving for 2012 race: $384,100
• Giving to outside-spending groups: $260,000
• Giving to candidates and parties: $124,100

Source of donation data: Center for Responsive Politics. Outside spending groups include super-PACs, PACs, and 527 groups.

Front page image of Sheldon Adelson and Jeffrey Katzenberg:Wikimedia Commons; Fortune Live Media/Flickr

Photo credits: 1. Wikimedia Commons; 2. Bob Perry; 3. Fortune Live Media/Flickr; 5. Joe Klein/ZUMA; 6. Childrens Memorial Hospital; 7.stnoyes1/YouTube; 8. Kstate/YouTube; 11. Ron Sachs/ZUMA; 12. John Templeton Foundation; 13. Jodi Jones/ZUMA; 14. Marriott; 15. New Balance; 16. Rick Mackler/ZUMA; 18. Voices Empower with Alice Linahan/Flickr; 19. Northwest Excavating 

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The 20 Biggest Donors of the 2012 Election (So Far)

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The casino mogul betting $5 million on Newt Gingrich, Wall Streeters investing in Mitt Romney, Obama's Hollywood pal, and the other 1 percenters trying to sway the race.

—By Gavin Aronsen and Dave Gilson

| Tue Jan. 10, 2012 4:00 AM PST

Read more of our coverage of political dark money, including this handy guide to buying an election and a chart of the super-PAC universe.

The 2008 presidential election was the most expensive on record, with candidates, parties, and outside groups dropping $5.3 billion. This year's contest promises to break that record, due in part to the new rules of political fundraising: Donors can pour unlimited cash into outside-spending groups that can freely boost or attack the candidates of their choice. Which means that wealthy donors who have maxed out on their gifts to candidates or just want a lot more bang for their political buck can write massive checks to any of the new super-PACs that are popping up as proxies for politicians and parties.

Throughout the year, we'll be keeping tabs on these superdonors (many of them couples who double up or spread out their gifts). As primary season heats up, we've tallied the current top 20 political givers based on donation data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Here's a quick look at how they're giving, starting with their partisan tilt: 17 out of 20 are giving to Republican or conservative groups and candiates.

And half of the top 20 are major donors to the pro-Mitt Romney super-PAC Restore Our Future:

The full list:
1. SHELDON AND MIRIAM ADELSON(LAS VEGAS)

With a net worth of more than $21 billion, casino mogul Sheldon is listed by Forbes as the eighth-richest personin America. His recent $5 million donation to the pro-Newt Gingrich super-PAC Winning Our Future has secured his spot as the 2012 election cycle's most generous donor (for now). In keeping with Gingrich's scorched-earth primary strategy, Adelson's massive gift is funding a round of harsh attack ads against Mitt Romney. The chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands casino chain, Adelson previously contributed to conservative outside-spending groups, including the now-defunct Freedom's Watchand Gingrich's shuttered 527 group, American Solutions Winning the Future. In a 2008 Mother Jones article, a Nevada Republican operative described him as "a very aggressive, strong-minded, passionate person"; in another MoJo story, a union leader called the famously anti-labor Adelson "probably one of the most litigious people on the planet."
Total giving for 2012 race: $5,224,800
• Giving to outside-spending groups: $5,010,000
• Giving to candidates and parties: $214,800

2. BOB AND DOYLENE PERRY(HOUSTON)

Bob is the founder of Perry Homes, one of America's top homebuilders. 

He's worth a reported $650 million and is a longtime Republican power 

player, though "not a schmoozer at all." During the 2004 election, Perry 

gave nearly $4.5 million to the John Kerry-smearing group Swift Boat 

Veterans for Truth. He has also bankrolled every member of the Texas Supreme Court, 

which ruled for him in a defective-home lawsuit. (He was ultimately ordered to pay $51 

million.) In the 2012 election cycle, the Perrys have given $2.5 million to Karl Rove's 

American Crossroads super-PAC, $500,000 to the pro-Romney super-PAC Restore Our 

Future, and $250,000 to the Republican Governors Association.

Total giving for 2012 race:$3,337,600

• Giving to outside-spending groups: $3,250,000

• Giving to candidates and parties: $87,600

4. JEFFREY AND MARILYN KATZENBERG(LOS ANGELES)

The former head of Walt Disney's film division, Jeffrey is the CEO of 

DreamWorks Animation, the world's largest animation studio. 

A 2009 Fast Company profile noted his reputation for "relentless 

ambition and a hypercontrolling management style." In the 2012 election 


cycle, he has given $2 million to the pro-Obama super-PAC Priorities USA Action. As in the 

last election, Jeffrey is a major bundler for the Obama campaign. He described soliciting 

money for Obama as "the single easiest fundraising phone call that I have ever made, ever."

Total giving for 2012 race: $2,173,100

• Giving to outside-spending groups: $2,000,000

• Giving to candidates and parties: $173,100

5. JERRY AND MARGaRET PERENCHIO(LOS ANGELES)

Jerry, 80, is the former CEO of the Spanish-language network Univision, which he sold for 

$13.7 billion in 2007. He is worth a reported $2.3 billion and is one of Malibu's biggest 

private landowners. He was previously a talent agent for Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, 

and other stars. His wife, Margaret, is a portrait artist who has painted celebrities including 

Salma Hayek. In the 2012 election cycle, the Perenchios have dished out $2 million to 

Rove's American Crossroads. 

Total giving for 2012 race: $2,128,300

• Giving to outside-spending groups: $2,000,000

• Giving to candidates and parties: $128,300

6. ROBERT AND TERRY ROWLING(HIGHLAND PARK, TEXAS)

Reportedly worth $4.7 billion, the 57-year-old Robert owns TRT 

Holdings, whose assets include the Tana Exploration oil company, a 

Mexican dollar-store chain, and Gold's Gym. He and his wife, Terry, live 

in the legendarily conservative Dallas suburb of Highland Park. He has 

given millions of dollars to state and national Republicans over the years; as a bundler to 

George W. Bush's 2004 campaign, he was named a "Bush Pioneer." In the 2012 election 

cycle, he has given $1 million to American Crossroads (a prior donation prompted 

protests from San Francisco branches of Gold's Gym).

Total giving for 2012 race: $1,101,600

• Giving to outside-spending groups: $1,000,000

• Giving to candidates and parties: $101,600

7. KEN AND ANNE GRIFFIN(CHICAGO)

A hedge fund power couple, Ken and Anne Griffin are, respectively, 

the founder and CEO of Citadel and thefounder and managing partner 

of Aragon Global Management, one of the nation's largest hedge funds 

headed by a woman. Noted art aficionados, they own works by Monet,

 Degas, and Cezanne, and paid $80 million for a Jasper Johns 

painting. Reportedly worth $2.3 billion, Ken bundled money for both Obama and John 

McCain during the 2008 election. In the 2012 election cycle, the couple has given $500,000

 to the Republican Governors Association, $300,000 to Rove's American Crossroads, and 

$150,000 to the Wisconsin Club for Growth. Bonus: Charles Koch named them as part of 

a list of elite donors who have pledged $1 million to his and his brother David's conservative 

fundraising machine. 

Total giving for 2012 race: $1,089,000

• Giving to outside-spending groups: $950,000

• Giving to candidates and parties: $139,000

8.  JOHN AND PENNY PAULSON(NEW YORK)

With a net worth of $15.5 billion, John, a phenomenally successful hedge

 funds manager, is America's 17th-richest person. After riding out the 

market collapse, Paulson made $4.9 billion in 2010—Wall Street's 

biggest-ever single payday. Occupy Wall Street protested outside his 

28,500-square foot Manhattan mansion in October 2011. The following month he issued a 

letter apologizing for Paulson Funds' poor recent performance, then personally bailed it out 

to the tune of $4 million. In the 2012 election cycle, Paulson has given $1 million to the 

pro-Romney super-PAC Restore Our Future. He and his wife Jenny have also given $9,600

to Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown. 

Total giving for 2012 race: $1,075,600

• Giving to outside-spending groups: $1,005,000

• Giving to candidates and parties: $70,600

8. PAUL AND SANDRA EDGERLEY(BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS)

Since 1990, Paul has served as a managing director of Bain Capital, the 

private investment firm cofounded by Mitt Romney. Previously, he 

did consulting and managerial work alongside Romney at Bain ; 

Company.  Sandra also worked at Bain ; Company before leaving to focus

 on philanthropic interests. The Edgerleys are longtime Republican boosters in 

Massachusetts. In the 2012 election cycle, the couple has donated $1 million to Restore Our 

Future.

 Total giving for 2012 race: $1,015,000

• Giving to outside-spending groups: $1,000,000

• Giving to candidates and parties: $15,000

9. EDWARD AND JILL CONRAD (NEW YORK) 

Edward is a retired managing director at Bain Capital, and Jill is a former comedy writer 

who previously worked for David Letterman. They are prominent Romney supporters, as 

they were in 2008. In August, following complaints from election watchdogs, Edward 

revealed that he was behind a mysterious $1 million donation, given by a previously 

unheard-of company called W Spann, to the Romney super-PAC Restore Our Future. 

Total giving for 2012 race: $1,005,000

• Giving to outside-spending groups: $1,000,000

• Giving to candidates and parties: $5,000

10.FRED EYCHANER (CHICAGO)

This reclusive media mogul is a major Democratic fundraiser. A former reporter, he runs 


the Newsweb Corporation, which publishes alternative and ethnic newspapers. In 2002, he 


made more than $420 million selling a TV station to Rupert Murdoch. A 2005 Chicago 


Tribune profilereported that he "drives a 1999 Ford Escort, flies coach, owns just three suits 


and sometimes stays at budget motels." In the 2012 election cycle, Eychaner has given 


$500,000 to the pro-Obama super-PAC Priorities USA Action, $100,000 to the House 


Majority PAC, $100,000 to the Democratic Governors Association, and $50,000 to the 


GayLesbian Victory Fund. 

Total giving for 2012 race: $791,800
 
• Giving to outside-spending groups: $750,000

• Giving to candidates and parties: $41,800

Next Page: The 10 next biggest donors of 2012

Page 1 of 2Next

Mitt Romney's $12 Million Mystery Man

Meet Carl Forti, the super-PAC whiz helping the GOP front-runner and conservative groups rake in piles of dark money.

—By Andy Kroll

| January/February 2012 Issue

Illustration: Andy Friedman

Republican strategist Carl Forti has been described, variously, as "Karl Rove's Karl Rove" (Politico), "one of the smartest people in politics you've never heard of" (Karl Rove), and "the Alexander the Great of the Republican independent expenditure world" (Republican operative Bradley Blakeman). You can add one more to the list: President Obama and the Democrats' worst nightmare in 2012. A pioneer in the post-Citizens United world of super-PACs and dark money, Forti is one of the lead architects of the GOP's outside-spending strategy and an operative who has for years tested the boundaries of campaign finance law.

GOP Primary Predictor

Think you're smarter than a CNN pundit? Predict the next winner with our interactive app.

Forti first waded into the outside-money wars while working for the National Republican Congressional Committee. During the 2006 election cycle, he managed an $82 million independent-expenditure campaign—the largest in the committee's history. Through the Black Rock Group, the strategic communications firm he cofounded, Forti has gone on to advise an all-star roster of conservative outside-spending groups, including the 60 Plus Association (the "conservative AARP") and Americans for Job Security. Forti is also the political director of American Crossroads and advocacy director of Crossroads GPS, the Rove-inspired outfits that reported spending nearly $39 million together during the midterms. The groups have already begun running ads bashing Obama and vulnerable Democrats and plan to dump $240 million into 2012 races.

Most recently, Forti helped launch Restore Our Future, a pro-Mitt Romney super-PAC that raised $12 million in the first half of 2011. "I don't know of anybody who's got as important of a role with the major outside organizations, both in 2010 and in 2012," says the group's treasurer, Charles Spies.

Like Spies, Forti is an alum of Romney's 2008 presidential campaign. As the campaign's national political director, Forti masterminded Romney's 11 primary and caucus wins. After the former Massachusetts governor dropped out, Forti moved on toFreedom's Watch, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit group bankrolled by right-wing casino mogul Sheldon Adelson. Founded with the goal of spending as much as $200 million to counter labor unions and progressive heavyweights like MoveOn.org, the group ran ads defending George W. Bush's foreign policy and supporting Republican congressional candidates. In the end, internal squabbling, a bloated infrastructure, and Adelson's discontent with the group's leadership doomed Freedom's Watch. It shut down in December 2008—but its legacy lived on, in the form of the gaping loophole it helped create in campaign finance law.

During the 2008 campaign, the group, with Forti spearheading its issue advocacy campaigns, ran a series of ads attacking Louisiana Democratic House candidate Don Cazayoux. Up until that point, organizations like Freedom's Watch typically revealed the donors behind such ads in their filings with the Federal Election Commission. Yet Freedom's Watch tried something different: It simply left that section blank. In a move that dismayed campaign finance reformers, the FEC's three Republican commissioners, prompted by a complaint about Freedom's Watch filed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, ruled thatoutside-spending groups don't have to reveal their donors unless those donors earmark their contributions for specific ads. The move upended years of precedent. "It was a deliberate effort to weaken the rules, and it worked," says Craig Holman, a lobbyist for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.

During the next election cycle, Forti hatched an audacious plan to circumvent campaign spending rules. Under the law at that time, individuals were free to spend as much as they pleased on TV ads, mailers, and other political messaging without filing as a political action committee. But once a group of individuals pooled their money and coordinated their spending, they became subject to contribution limits. Forti proposed a plan intended to evade contribution rules while also implementing a coordinated strategy. Black Rock would be used as a middleman, crafting a comprehensive game plan and then advising individual donors on how and where to spend their money.

The FEC ultimately declined to give its blessing to the plan, but the episode underscored Forti's penchant for pushing the boundaries of campaign finance law. "He's one of the guys, through Black Rock and others, who apparently sees his role as being always out there trying to figure out where the loophole is and how to use it to his party's or favorite candidate's benefit," says Meredith McGehee, policy director of the Campaign Legal Center.

It's perhaps not surprising that Forti, who has worked so diligently to keep political donors in the shadows, detests publicity and fiercely guards his privacy. He declined to be interviewed for this story, telling me in a brief phone conversation that he had a strict no-profile policy and would discourage his colleagues from speaking with me as well. "I've always tried to stay behind the scenes," he told me, "and I intend to keep it that way."

So You Want to Buy an Election?

If you have a ton of cash and a political agenda, it's easier than ever to make powerful friends and influence people. Here's a handy how-to guide to the complex, cash-drenched world of federal campaign finance.

—By Tim Murphy

| January/February 2012 Issue

 

Gaze Into the Exploding Universe of Dark Money

We've charted the red giants and blue dwarfs spending millions to influence the 2012 election.

—By Dave Gilson and Asawin Suebsaeng

| January/February 2012 Issue

• 
  

If Citizens United was the Big Bang of a new era of money in politics, here's the parallel universe it formed: rapidly expanding super-PACs and nebulous 501(c) groups exerting their gravitational pull on federal elections. A group's size in the chart below is based upon all known fundraising or spending since 2010…so keep an eye out for dark matter. Come back for regular updates.

 Source of financial data: Center for Responsive Politics, GuideStar. Data as of November 16, 2011.